Amber Portwood brother: Gary Shirley upset about no contact order

By Elizabeth Kwiatkowski, 12/29/2010

Amber Portwood's ex-fiance Gary Shirley is apparently not a supporter of the no contact order a court issued as part of the terms of the Teen Mom star's release from jail following her arrest on charges she assaulted Shirley.

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Portwood had surrendered to Indiana police on Monday after prosecutors charged her with two felony counts of domestic battery, one felony count of neglect of a dependent and one misdemeanor of domestic violence and battery. She faces up to three years in jail and a $10,000 fine if convicted.

Portwood, a 20-year-old from Anderson, IN, was released on $5,000 bail around 4PM ET on Tuesday after an automatic not guilty plea was entered on her behalf during an early afternoon court appearance with Madison County magistrate Stephen D. Clase, who issued the no contact order. However due to the nature of the charges, she was still required to serve a 24-hour hold, which delayed her release.

While the no contact order only specifically lists Shirley as the primary victim and recipient of the protective order, it also, according to E! News, bars Portwood from having contact with the couple's two-year-old daughter Leah -- a restriction that Shirley, who didn't request the order, is allegedly especially upset about.

"Gary is really upset. He wants to testify on Amber's behalf... He doesn't want the no contact rule at all. He was trying to get a lawyer to fight it because the state of Indiana is trying to make Gary testify on their behalf," Portwood's brother Shawn Portwood told E! News on Tuesday.

But officials allegedly warned Shirley to not attempt to go through with his plan once they learned of it, according to Portwood's brother.

"When he said he was going to get a lawyer, the state said if you do that, we'll fight you and if you lose, we'll take Leah away from you and give her to your mom. So he feels like he can't do anything. He wants Leah to see Amber," he told E! News.

However Shawn Portwood told E! News his sister will still receive support from a Child Protective Services staffer.

"The lady from [Child Protective Services] is going to go there and testify on Amber's behalf," he said.

Indiana prosecutors formally charged Portwood after the Anderson Police Department conducted a domestic abuse investigation into allegations that Portwood had assaulted Shirley by punching and kicking him in front of Leah on an episode of Teen Mom which aired on MTV back in late September.

Portwood and Shirley reportedly split after the dispute, but it still raised the concerns of Child Protective Services and local police, who obtained MTV's raw, unaired footage of the argument as part of their investigation which concluded with a recommendation that prosecutors file criminal charges against the Teen Mom star.

After completing their investigation, police alleged that Portwood actually attacked Shirley on three different times over a 12-month period.

According to police documents, Portwood shoved, slapped and choked Shirley on August 14, 2009; slapped, punched and kicked him again on June 14; and then slapped and punched him once more on July 18. Leah was reportedly watching nearby during all three incidents.

However despite their rocky history, Shawn Portwood told E! News that the on-again, off-again couple have been attempting to reconcile their differences.

"Oddly enough, Amber and Gary want to work things out in some capacity," he said. "They've been getting along great, and now this happens."